Giving Radical Happiness

November 20, 2018

Dear Friend of Fairhaven School,

In my fourth year as a Fairhaven School parent, I’ve had a lot of time to consider what this school means to my family. The conclusion:

Radical Happiness.

Fairhaven is a place where radical happiness incubates and spreads.

It begins in the hearts of students, warming with the freedom to decide for themselves. They can play and explore and study and contemplate. At Fairhaven, students have dominion over their time and learn quickly that they are the only ones responsible for their happiness. How different this is from societal messages that proclaim happiness is just a purchase/position/partner away.

This radical happiness then spreads from students to parents. For the first time, we as parents are allowed to let go of expectations and see our children as individuals. We are freed from hours of homework each night, from the compulsion to compare our children with their peers, and from the self-judgement determined by how they measure up.

Finally, Fairhaven School students become ambassadors of radical happiness for everyone they meet. Strangers marvel at how articulate they are, their ability to entertain themselves, their desire for justice, their comfort occupying their own skin, and their ability to speak up and be heard. Fairhaven School students and graduates present an alternative childhood, where trust in oneself forms the foundation for a life well-lived.

As a mother of color to two girls of color, I can think of nothing more worthy than the pursuit of their own happiness.

Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.–Audre Lorde

Fairhaven School teaches children that happiness is not something reserved for the privileged or obtained on the backs of others. Happiness is a choice, a freedom, a responsibility.

Although Fairhaven School is priced significantly lower than other private schools in the area, many of our students would not be able to attend without financial assistance. A contribution to Fairhaven–no matter how small–is a commitment to ensuring that the richness of a Sudbury education is available to students of all backgrounds in the Annapolis/Washington, DC area. Click here or send your donation to Fairhaven School, 17900 Queen Anne Rd, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774.

Your gift is a commitment to the belief that we can choose to be happier, to be more united, to be better.

As always, thank you for your support of Fairhaven School.

Sincerely,

Crystal Antoinette Graham
Fairhaven School Parent

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